Static Movement – Lost Signal

Promo: Local Heroes anthology – Available Now

The anthology book event of the year has finally arrived:

Conceived, compiled and edited by Brandon L. Rucker, Local Heroes is a themed anthology of original short fiction published by Static Movement books, featuring stories about the kind of everyday real-life heroes who selflessly interrupt their own lives to positively affect the lives of others. Often they are unsung, and often they are reluctant to embrace the title of “hero”, but that could never diminish the impact of their heroism.

This book features the outstanding work of such authors as Robert C. Eccles, Kevin Wallis, Twana Biram, John “JAM” Arthur Miller, Michael C. Pennington, Dorthy Davies and many more.

Order it direct from the publisher and get free shipping when your order exceeds $25. Easy to do when you consider there are dozens more anthologies by Static Movement to enjoy.

Or order it from Amazon if you prefer.

Local Heroes is but only the first anthology by Brandon L. Rucker. More anthologies conceived, compiled and edited by yours truly are coming in 2012. Expect more announcements here starting in early January.

Call for Submissions: In Honor of Chuck “C.D.” Turner

Static Movement publisher/editor Chris Bartholomew has recently announced the tragic untimely passing of her brother and fellow anthology editor C.D. Turner. Her announcement follows:

“My brother, C. D. Turner (Chuck) went to Sturgis. He was very happy to be going. He had a wreck on August 5th and died August 7th. Chuck loved working with the writers and said editing the two books was the best thing that ever happened in his life. Please pray for the family. We will continue to take submissions for this book and publish it for Chuck’s daughter and son. Submissions will now come to me at author.chris@gmail.com”

One of his anthologies is What is New is Old Again – A Steampunk Anthology. It has a very nice cover.

You can learn more on the Static Movement message board.

Fiction writers of prose, new and expeienced: if you have a story that is of a steampunk nature and to which you own the rights, please consider submitting it for this anthology. Or write an all-new story. Your efforts will be great appreciated by Chris, Chuck and their family.

Thanks.

Acceptance: Two of My Stories in Bizarro Anthology

Two of my short stories have been accepted for featured publication in the bizarro anthology Like Frozen Statues of Flesh, edited by Joe Jablonski. The anthology will be published in a couple of weeks by the Static Movement imprint (for which I am also editing an anthology, the forthcoming Local Heroes).

“All In A Day’s Work” is an absurdist piece of fiction that I originally wrote back in 1997 as a hoot inspired by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens. My story follows a grim reaper on his first day on the job. The version that will be published is updated in spots and has an all-new ending that’s different from the original that has languished on my various hard drives the past thirteen years or so.

“The Underneath” is newer, written in 2009 and is certainly a bizarre piece of fiction dealing with a fella who has discovered a strange blemish on his skin that was not ever there previously. What happens after that discovery results in perhaps the strangest story I’ve ever written in my 18 years of fiction writing.

Like Frozen Statues of Flesh is the perfect home for these two pieces that would no doubt have had hard times finding homes due to their unorthodox stylings.

Book: Best Left Buried, A Cursed Anthology

Best Left Buried: A Cursed Anthology about cursed objects and those who wield them, was recently published and is now available. The antholoy was lovingly compiled and edited by Gregory Miller (author of The Uncanny Valley: Tales from a Lost Town and Scaring the Crows: 21 Tales from Noon to Midnight) is now available from Static Movement on Amazon.

The first story featured is a little cursed tale authored by me called “Finder Kept” about what happens when an otherworldly trinket falls into the wrong hands.

Here’s a brief excerpt from “Finder Kept”:

A few moments ago a man had come running through the alley. It seemed pretty obvious that he had been pursued by someone as he kept glancing behind him like someone being chased. The Running-Scared Man had tossed the satchel toward the heap of black trash bags mere inches from where The Bum had lay as he ran by. The satchel had nestled itself within the heap, perhaps to be retrieved at a later date by The Running-Scared Man. Yet The Bum had retrieved the curious package for himself. He had discovered the cash it contained immediately, but had paid no mind to the other object inside the small bag.

Sobering now, he considered the satchel and its strange markings, and wondered what was actually in the damned thing. It was weighty and felt somewhat metallic, maybe even mechanical.

The origins for this story go way back to 1999 and was nearly part of a huge collaborative story with a few other writers at the time. But as those kinds of projects often go, it never came to fruition, so I kept my portion of it all this time with hopes of revisiting it someday. Once Greg’s cursed anthology caught my attention I knew that with a few tweaks here and there to what I wrote all those years ago I had found a home for it, as well as great incentive to expand on what I already had and complete it as an actual story. I was so pleased to find someone who enjoyed it perhaps even more than I did. Thanks, Greg. I owe you one, buddy.

Acceptance: My story “Finder Kept” will be in Best Left Buried: A Cursed Anthology

Got word last evening that my short story “Finder Kept” has been accepted for publication in Best Left Buried: A Cursed Anthology, a Static Movement anthology edited by Greg Miller, likely to be published in a few weeks. This is the first submission and acceptance of 2011 for me. In 2010, my “breakout from obscurity year”, I started off a lot stronger than this. Plenty of stories are in the hopper, though, so lets see if I can make up some lost ground in the coming weeks.

The Cover (back/front)

About the editor Greg Miller: He’s the writer of a little collection of stories called Scaring the Crows: 21 Tales For Noon or Midnight (2009) that I still need to pull off my bookshelf and read this year. He’s also the editor of Something Dark in the Doorway, a ghost-oriented anthology that I wanted to try for, but couldn’t even come close to the deadline.

Something Dark in the Doorway (A Haunted Anthology)

Check’em out @ Amazon

And the just released anthology he edited, Shadows Within Shadows

Available now for order at the Static Movement affiliate bookstore at Pill Hill Press

NEW MARKET: Static Poetry

ATTN: Poets the world over.

Static Poetry is now open for submissions.

From Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew:

Send poetry to me at author.chris@gmail.com with Static Poetry in the subject line.

Multiple submissions in one email is fine, but please don’t send your subs to anyone else until you hear from me. I respond to submissions the same day that they are sent in.

Poetry will be left justified, no centered poetry will be accepted and no special formatting will be done. You can of course have blank spaces between, but no special indenting. Please put a bio at the end of the submission in the manuscript. No word limit.

Any type of poetry will be acceptable for this anthology. (Except erotica)

Open until filled. No payment wil be made and no copy given for this anthology. I’ll add that this will be a print antholgy will be for-the-love and for exposure.

The cover:

Static Movement Imprint

Static Movement is a small press publisher that is also great at showcasing the work of unknown authors as well as authors who are clearly already on the path of making a name for themselves tomorrow. I have stories in three of the anthologies and I am editing an upcoming one, Local Heroes. Static Movement will always have a special place in my heart. Books are available on Amazon as well as the Pill Hill Press store.